


In Which Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation Is Kidnapped By the Bounty Hunter Jango Fett

by The_Dark_Lord_of_Dragon_Kind



Series: Mandalorian Zuko [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Mandalorian, Mandalorian Culture, Mandalorian!Zuko, Mando'a
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:27:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25131619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Dark_Lord_of_Dragon_Kind/pseuds/The_Dark_Lord_of_Dragon_Kind
Summary: Not too long ago, I realized that there is an unfortunate lack of crossovers with Star Wars and Avatar: the Last Airbender. I could not stop thinking about this tragedy and how it could be rectified. This is what came out of that.Jango Fett lands on a strange planet in the Unknown Regions while fleeing from some of his enemies. While stopping there, Jango is met by one of the inhabitants of the planet. The inhabitant is a human kid, with golden eyes and a cruel burn scar over one side of his face. The kid’s name is Zuko, and he is able to throw fire. Naturally, this merits investigation.This is set before Jango Fett is hired by Count Dooku to serve as the base of his clone army and long before Zuko finds the Avatar.
Series: Mandalorian Zuko [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820452
Comments: 24
Kudos: 99





	1. The Meeting

Jango Fett tried not to yawn as his ship dropped out of hyperspace. He was in an unfamiliar star system, far beyond the boundary separating the Outer Rim from the Unknown Regions. He had been chased into hyperspace by an army of angry pirates. He might have been the best bounty hunter in the Outer Rim, according to some, but that did not mean he could take on an army. Jango didn’t think the pirates would follow him. No doubt they thought he had died by traveling through a gravity well. They didn’t realize he had a map of a secret hyperspace route to this planet.

The planet looked barely inhabited. Jango wondered if it had been abandoned, but revised his theory to societal collapse as he descended towards the planet. There were plenty of normal looking trees, and Jango spotted a city before he landed close to the sea.

Jango put on his armor and stomped out of his ship.

The air was good, fresh and full of plant smells. He spotted a few animals, but they were strange, and he wasn’t sure they were good to eat, so he let them live. It was a normal world, Jango thought. It would make for a great secret base.

Someone stomped out of the forest. It was a young male human, with Sith-looking eyes and a scar across one half of his face. He was wearing armor despite his youth – Jango guessed that he was between 10 and 15 years old. Probably still an ad’ika, even with the armor.

The boy shouted something at him. His voice was quite loud and commanding. Jango hadn’t expected that. But Jango couldn’t understand a word out of the kid’s mouth, which Jango had expected.

“I’m sorry,” Jango told him in Basic. “I don’t understand you.” There was a chance that the kid would understand or even speak basic, or would be able to bring him to a translator. Though it had likely been centuries since this planet had been settled, there was a possibility that these people could still know Basic.

From the confusion on the kid’s face, though, Jango knew that he hadn’t been lucky. The kid snapped some demand, but Jango couldn’t guess what it was. So, he took of his helmet and locked eyes with the boy.

“Jango,” he said, pointing to himself. Hopefully the kid would understand what he was trying to say.

“Jango,” the boy repeated, pointing at Jango. Then he pointed to himself and said “Zuko”.

“Zuko,” Jango repeated with a nod.

The boy, Zuko, seemed at a loss for what to do next. Having exchanged names, Jango wasn’t entirely sure either. Perhaps he should offer Zuko some food, he thought.

But Zuko had other ideas. He was empathetically pointing towards the sea. Jango didn’t know what he wanted, but he did know that he had to close up his ship, so he gave a smile and a nod and turned to close up the ship.

Zuko seemed to take that badly, and shot a blast of flame right at Jango. It seemed to have come straight from the boy’s bare fist.

Jango guessed that the kid was some sort of force user. He was too emotional to be a Jedi, and didn’t seem aggressive enough to be a Sith. Jango guessed that he used the dark side, because he had those Sith-golden eyes and was shouting angrily. But he didn’t seem totally consumed by the dark side, unlike a Sith.

While he was thinking about all that, Jango had dodged the fire blast, put his helmet on, and then dodged a second fire blast, and then a line of fire that Zuko had sent towards him with a spinning kick. Jango shifted from defense to offence, closing the gap quickly and punching the kid, who moved out of the way. They continued trading blows for a while, before Jango realized that the flames weren’t hot enough to do much to his armor. After that, the duel was over quite quickly, as Jango pressed the advantage of his armor until Zuko fell down.

Strangely, Zuko seemed to panic at that, and started scrambling away, terror in his eyes. Jango took pity on him and pulled out his blaster, set it to stun, and stunned the kid.

Then, he started plotting.

This planet had some number of force users, enough to have their own force tradition, as well as some militarized cultures, if Zuko’s armor was any indication. If those people could be… convinced to fight for a Mandalorian Empire, that Empire would have a group of force users as well as more soldiers. Jango could call upon the New Mandalorians to conquer the planet, and then they could turn their attention out, to conquer Mandalore, destroy Deathwatch, and rearm the people who had been disarmed by the New Mandalorians. From there, the edges of the galaxy were the only limits. With a group of Mandalorian force users, the Mandalorian Empire would have a better answer to the Jedi. They could take Coruscant, Jango realized, mind racing.

They didn’t have to, though. This planet could serve as a fall back point, at the very least, or a place to grow the ranks of the True Mandalorians. No matter what, Zuko could provide important intelligence. And even if Jango decided not to invade this planet, Zuko was young and a good warrior. He might be a bit hot headed, but Jango thought that he would make a good Mandalorian.

Jango picked up Zuko and put him in the cockpit. Then, he piloted his ship into orbit and waited for his captive to awaken. Jango would give Zuko one last look at his planet before they left, so that he would understand what was happening.


	2. Leaving the World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello   
> I hadn't checked the comments until recently, so I haven't responded to any of them, but I did read them all. I literally danced with joy because of those comments. And then I got back to editing and posting this chapter. I promise that if you all continue writing such nice comments, I will be helpless to do anything but continue writing this story. Thank you!  
> Thank you to all of you who gave me kudos, too. I didn't dance with joy because of those, but I did cackle.
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

Zuko woke slowly, with a pounding headache. He was sitting up. For a moment, Zuko was confused. Was this what a hangover felt like? Had he been poisoned? But then, the events preceding his unconsciousness burst into his memory. He remembered the strange man with bright armor and a helmet with a t-shaped visor, and the large metal building that had floated out of the sky while he was wandering around without his Uncle. The strange man’s name was Jango, he thought, and he seemed to have come from the metal building. They had fought after Jango had turned to leave, but the man’s bright armor had been basically impervious to Zuko’s fire. Jango had knocked Zuko down, and Zuko had been overwhelmed by the fresh memory of the Agni Kai and hadn’t been able to stop the strange blue circles that had knocked him out.

Memory intact, Zuko pried his eyes open, careful not to make a sound.

He was strapped to a strange, soft chair. Next to him, to his left, was a second chair, similar to the one he was sitting in, if not exactly the same. Right in front of him was a… panel, full of flashing lights and different colors and levers. But beyond that was what caught and held Zuko’s attention.

There was glass, which separated Zuko from the black night sky. Only it wasn’t night, because he could see Agni, the sun, shining brightly, far, far away. But closer was a massive orb, which Zuko slowly realized was the entire world. He compared the lines on it to the lines on maps, and it fit. He was above the world, looking down on it.

Zuko wondered if he was dead, and this was the afterlife. If it was, that was a bit disappointing. He had hoped he would be able to look more closely at what was happening. But then a door behind him opened by sliding into the wall, and the man, Jango, walked through. Jango was still in his armor, but wasn’t wearing his helmet. Jango sat down in the other chair with a sigh, and glanced at Zuko. Seeing him awake, he gave a little wave.

“Take me down,” Zuko ordered. Jango looked at him without understanding. Zuko repeated himself, this time with hand motions. He watched a light of understanding come into the man’s eyes. But Jango shook his head.

Zuko watched curiously as the man did things to the panel which seemed to cause the metal building to turn away from the world and from Agni.

"Take me down!" Zuko repeated, following his command with a fireball. But Jango did not change his course, allowing the fireball to burn out against his impenetrable armor.

When there was nothing to be seen through the glass, Jango pulled a lever. The stars themselves became streaks of light before a swirling blue tunnel opened up before them. Everything was gone.

It was then that Zuko’s situation hit him. He had been taken from the world. Everyone at home would assume he was dead. No one would be able to follow him – that was for sure. Zuko had been kidnaped by something from beyond the world, and he had no way to go home. In short, he was doomed.

Jango seemed to have no desire to kill him, fortunately. He simply stood up and unstrapped Zuko from the chair. Zuko stood and allowed himself to be dragged out of the room. After walking through a corridor, they arrived at another room, this one baring a superficial resemblance to a kitchen. Zuko was pushed into a seat, and given what looked like some sort of delicate soggy bread with a few slices of dried meat. It didn’t look entirely appetizing, but when Zuko tried them, he found that the meat was wonderfully spicy and the bread wasn’t so bad either. The spiciness warmed Zuko and gave him a bit of hope. If Jango had spicy food, he couldn’t be a murderous spirit, Zuko thought, even though he knew it was illogical.

As he ate, Zuko attempted to make sense of his situation. Zuko was still wearing his armor. Jango hadn’t taken that away. Nor had he searched him, it seemed, since Zuko still had his knife with the inscription _never give up without a fight_. Zuko promised himself, and promised his Uncle, that he would live by that. Perhaps, once he had learned to communicate with Jango, he could convince him to let him go home. Otherwise, he would learn how to work the metal building, and make them return to the world.

With his plan in place, Zuko refocused on his meal, and devoured it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zuko isn't as hotheaded as he normally is because he just got kidnapped by someone from outer space.  
> I don't think he even understands what outer space is, considering the Fire Nation's level of technology is somewhere between the Middle Ages and the industrial revolution.


	3. Trust and Distrust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko arrives in the Mandalore system.

“Food?” Zuko asked.

“You want more food?” Jango clarified.

“More food,” Zuko agreed.

Jango gave Zuko another serving of dinner. It was properly Mandalorian, so spicy that it produced heturam. But the kid seemed to really enjoy it, even if he literally breathed fire sometimes after eating. Jango, for one, was glad he didn’t have to cook anything without spices for Zuko. Zuko’s enjoyment of spicy food was good, actually, since it gave Jango something to bond over with Zuko.

Jango smiled as Zuko practically inhaled the food. If there was one thing that never changed on any planet, it was teenagers and their ability to eat as if they were a black hole.

Once they were done, Jango rose and put the dishes in the sink.

“Come,” he ordered, walking towards the door. Zuko followed curiously. Jango heard him pause when they walked into the cockpit, but he continued into it. Zuko sat in the seat that he had sat in when they left his homeworld.

The blue of hyperspace swirled hypnotically until it broke, blue turning into star-streaks, turning into stars. Zuko sat up as the sun before them came into focus, but his excited look quickly turned into something more horrified and confused.

“Mandalore,” Jango announced, gesturing grandly to everything before them. They were in the Mandalore system, near the planet Mandalore.

Zuko sat back, clearly disappointed.

“Not Agni?” Zuko asked, pointing at the sun.

“That sun is not Agni,” Jango answered. Jango had guessed that Agni was the name of Zuko’s sun.

Zuko muttered something under his breath, looking around at the Mandalorian system. He didn’t seem happy, but then Jango hadn’t expected him to be happy to find out that he had been kidnapped and taken to something he couldn’t imagine existed.

Jango steered his ship down towards the home of a clan he knew was sympathetic to him. They were Clan Carid.

Clan Carid was a large clan. Their clan home would be large enough to base a small army out of, especially since they had defenses installed.

“This is Clan Carid,” a voice snapped, hailing them and startling Zuko. “You are entering our airspace. State your name and aliit.”

“I am Jango Fett,” Jango told him.

“Mand’alor,” the voice breathed. “Welcome. You can land on the main landing strip. I’ll go get our leader.”

Jango brought his ship down on the main landing ship, exactly as he had been told. He greeted the leader of Clan Carid, whose name was Drigr, and was invited inside.

Zuko trailed behind him the whole way, giving off bewildered vibes.

“I need to talk strategy with you,” Jango told Drigr Carid. “I have a plan to deal with Death Watch and then the Hutts.”

Drigr started barking orders, making sure some of the adults corralled the children out of and away from a small dining room. Zuko stayed, practically hiding behind Jango.

“Should he go out, as well?” Drigr Carid asked.

“No,” Jango answered, in Mando’a. “They don’t understand Mando’a or Basic well enough to understand what we’re saying.”

“What language do they speak?” Drigr asked, continuing their conversation in Mando’a.

“I have no idea,” Jango admitted. “But they, and their planet, play an important part in my plan.”

“They aren’t yours, then?” Drigr asked.

“No,” Jango shrugged. “I actually kidnapped them.” He switched to Basic. “This is Zuko. He’s from a planet in the Unknown Regions.” Jango switched back to Mando’a. “Their planet isn’t known by anyone, as far as I can tell, except me. And the people there are extremely primitive.”

“How primitive is primitive?” someone asked.

“They don’t have spaceflight,” Jango offered. “Zuko was quite surprised when they realized that the sun of Mandalore wasn’t Agni, their sun, and I’m not sure they even know how to fly, at all, even in their atmosphere. Zuko was confused by my blasters. I don’t have an exact idea of how primitive their world is, but it’s quite clearly very primitive.”

“What does this have to do with Death Watch?” another person interrupted.

“Well if you hadn’t interrupted, you might already know,” Jango scolded them gently. “Agni is full of resources, and I think we can use Agni to build the True Mandalorian fleet and army.”

“Like Mandalore the Ultimate did,” Drigr breathed.

“Precisely,” Jango agreed. “Because of how primitive they are, it should not take too much to keep the local populace in check. Circumstantial evidence suggests that a war is happening, so if we bring peace to Agni’s world, we will have the good will of at least some people. And, I believe they have force sensitives.” Jango switched back to Basic. “Zuko, burn,” he ordered gently.

Zuko looked at him and narrowed his eyes. For a moment, Jango was worried that he would refuse to do anything. But moments later, Zuko raised a hand and let flames burst out of his palm.

Clan Carid hid their reactions admirably well.

“Are you seriously planning on creating a force-sensitive Mandalorian army?” Drigr Carid demanded.

“The Republic has the Jedi,” Jango answered with a shrug. “Before they were destroyed, the Sith were force sensitives. As long as these force-sensitives are properly Mandalorian, I don’t see any issues coming up.”

“I suppose so,” Drigr agreed pensively. “It would give us a major advantage over Kyr’tsad. And, I suppose, over the Hutts as well.” He looked into Jango’s eyes. “The Great Clan War would end and the Mandalorian Empire would rise again. The Jetiise would not be pleased with that.”

“As long as we stay out of the Republic, we should be fine,” Jango disagreed. “And before anyone raises a fuss, we can make it really public that Mandalore is against slavery, and that we’re just trying to keep crime away from our territory, or something.”

“The Jetiise are supposed to be against slavery,” a high-ranking warrior pointed out. “If we say that and Jetiise come after us, some of them should disturbed enough to hesitate.”

“Hopefully,” someone muttered.

“I see how Agni’s planet comes in,” Drigr Carid said thoughtfully, “but I don’t see how we’re going to conquer it. The Haat Mando’ade, the supercommandos, are mostly dead…”

“We will conquer it as we conquered planets in millennia past,” Jango told him. “I will go out, hopefully with some of your warriors, to gather the clans loyal to me. Then, large parts of each clan will go to Agni to conquer the inhabited world and start making ships. After we conquer that world, we can start integrating the people into our society.”

“It will take a long time,” the leader pointed out.

“I’m playing the long game,” Jango answered, raising an eyebrow. “This will not pay off immediately, but it will start to pay off soon, and it may be that it never stops paying off. As long as Agni remains a secret, it will be an extremely dangerous system to our enemies.”

“I’m convinced, Mand’alor,” the leader of Clan Carid said firmly. “Not that you exactly needed to convince me.”

“I’d rather convince you than order you,” Jango told him with a smile.

After sleeping, Jango said goodbye to Zuko and left to rally the clans to his cause. The Mand’alor had returned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clan Carid is a real clan, though their only appearance in legends is to support the Mand'alor Bobba Fet with land distribution.
> 
> Anyone interested in learning more Mando’a should go to mandoa.org, where I get my translations from. When people are speaking in translated Mando’a, I use gender natural pronouns and words whenever possible, because Mando’a doesn’t have gendered pronouns. I just love that about Mando’a.
> 
> Heturam – “*mouthburn* - a sought-after state of intense burning in the mouth brought about by very spicy food.”
> 
> Kyr’tsad – the Mandalorian term for Death Watch. Sometimes spelled Kyr’staad. They are the archenemies of the Haat Mando’ade, and are responsible for the destruction of the True Mandalorian Super Commandos at the hands of the Jedi.
> 
> Jetiise – multiple Jedi, or the Republic
> 
> Haat Mando’ade – True Mandalorians. This is what the Super Commandos who followed Jango’s adoptive father, Jaster Meerel, called themselves. Though the True Mandalorian Super Commandos were destroyed by a Jedi task force manipulated by Death Watch, plenty of people sympathetic to them would have survived.
> 
> Mandalore the Ultimate was a Mandalore who died around 3960 years before the battle of Yavin. During his time, the Taung, the original species of Mandalorians, were going extinct, so Mandalore the Ultimate inducted large number of other species, from conquered planets, into the ranks of the Mandalorains, preserving the Mandalorian way of life, even as the original species of the Mandalorains went extinct. However, he is better known for nearly conquering the Republic. And if it wasn’t for that meddling Revan, he would have gotten away with it, too!


	4. Growth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not edited. If you notice mistakes, please leave a comment. If you don't, please leave a comment anyways.

When Zuko and Jango first landed on Concordia, they landed on a farm. The farmers there – who apparently were a clan – met Jango and welcomed both Jango and Zuko into their home.

It was quickly very clear that they weren’t just farmers.

They had been wearing relatively normal clothes, if of a strange cloth and style, but soon they started showing up in full armor, carrying what Zuko assumed were weapons like Jango’s. Then the younger members were shooed off.

Zuko was not.

Some of the adults went to make sure the younger members of the clan stayed away, but most of the adults gathered around the dinner table.

“This is Zuko,” Jango introduced him, so that he could understand. But then Jango began to talk faster, with longer words that Zuko didn’t recognize. He caught his name a few more times, along with Agni. Zuko hoped that Jango was doing nothing more than introducing him, but, looking at the grim smiles of the farmer-soldiers in their full-body armor, so similar to Jango’s armor, he had a bad feeling about what was to come. At one point, Jango asked him to demonstrate a bit of firebending.

Jango went off with a few of the farmer-soldiers, leaving Zuko behind. Zuko was given a tour of the home, which he quickly realized was more of a fortress than a big home, with secret tunnels that lead to large outposts. Zuko learned more Mando’a and Basic, as well as a few disturbing things.

For one, those strange weapons were truly powerful. Zuko was given a crash course in how to use those weapons, which were called blasters. There were a great variety, but they all were powerful and reliable. Zuko realized very quickly that while these farmer-soldiers weren’t as powerful as the Fire Nation, they were capable of significant damage.

The second thing Zuko learned was how to fly. One of the farmer-soldiers gave Zuko some armor. It wasn’t a full set, but it was enough for them to attach something they called a jet pack to him. While he had it, Zuko was able to fly. So was everyone else. The farmer-soldiers, who he learned were Mandalorians, were better at flying than Zuko was, and Zuko could easily see how devastating they would be, as they practiced what were clearly battle tactics.

Zuko tried to ignore his bad feelings, but his suspicions would not leave, even though he couldn’t put them into words.

“Zuko!” one of Zuko’s fellow teens called, a week after Jango had left, disturbing Zuko’s meditation. That particular kid’s name was Baltan Carid of Clan Carid.

“Yes?” Zuko asked as politely as he could while still growling.

“They’re back!” Baltan exclaimed. “My buir and Mand’alor Fett, I mean. And everyone else.”

“Why did they go?” Zuko asked.

“The Mand’alor has called for a strike on Kyr’tsad, or Death Watch,” Baltan informed him. “Those sympathetic to the Haat Mand’ade are rallying to the Mand’alor’s cause.”

“I think I understand,” Zuko said slowly as he translated what Baltan had said. He knew that Kyr’tsad, or Death Watch, was the enemy of these people. They had complained a few times about what Death Watch’s existence. “Why is Jango… calling this strike now?”

“I don’t know,” Baltan said with a shrug. “Could be anything, as far as I know. He showed up with you, and announced – said – that he had a plan to deal with Death Watch – and with the Hutts.”

“The Hutts?” Zuko asked.

“Large slug creatures that rule an empire of crime,” Baltan explained.

“Empire of crime?” Zuko asked slowly. “What do you mean?” He ignored the idea that there were large slug creatures that could apparently rule people. He was amongst the stars. All the rules were different now, no matter how similar they seemed sometimes.

“The Hutts rule criminals,” Baltan clarified.

“Good to attack, then,” Zuko said firmly.

“Let’s go meet them,” Baltan suggested.

“Agreed,” Zuko mumbled, dragging himself out of the corner he had been using for meditation. He followed Baltan out to the landing zone in front of Clan Carid’s house.

Small specks resolved into ships, similar to Jango’s ship. Zuko counted fifteen smaller ships and two much larger ships. They landed in and around the landing area.

The smaller ships opened, and people in full armor climbed out. Then the larger ships opened, and many more people in full armor marched out. Everyone was wearing full armor and were carrying multiple blasters.

It was an army.

The new army milled around for a little while as they organized themselves. Zuko looked over them, and spotted familiar armor.

“Hi, Jango,” he called. The helmet turned towards him, and Jango marched over, taking off his helmet as he went.

“Hello, Zuk’ika,” Jango greeted him, ruffling his hair and throwing an arm around Zuko’s shoulders.

“I am not little!” Zuko exclaimed, offended.

Apparently, that was a hilarious joke. Jango burst out laughing and pulled Zuko towards one of the ships.

“You’re speaking much better,” Jango complemented him. “I need to take care of something, really quickly.”

“What is it?” Zuko asked.

“Just a prisoner,” Jango answered casually. “Don’t talk to him, ok?”

“Ok,” Zuko repeated hesitantly. He was relatively certain that the word ok indicated agreement.

He spotted the prisoner. The prisoner didn’t have armor on, but Zuko recognized the clothes he was wearing as the body suit that was worn under this people’s armor. He was being pulled along by two Mandalorians in full armor, with one more walking behind them. The prisoner was dragged in front of Jango, who stepped forward to meet them.

“Fett,” the prisoner snarled as he was thrown down in front of Jango. His arms were bound behind him with metal handcuffs, so he nearly fell on his face. Instead, he managed to land in a kneeling position.

“Show some respect to the Mand’alor,” one of his guards snapped.

“He is not the Mand’alor,” the prizoner snarled.

“You’re wrong, dar’manda,” Jango snarled.

Zuko blinked. He had heard the word dar’manda once before, when two of Clan Carid were having a screaming fight. One of them had called the other that, and then they were both crying and the one who had said the word was apologizing profusely. They had both called each other some awful things, but dar’manda was apparently crossing a line. Jango didn’t look like he was about to apologize for calling his prisoner an insult that was clearly very painful in their culture.

“But I didn’t let you live to argue with you,” Jango continued. The prisoner seemed stunned by what Jango had called him. “I want to know where Kyr’tsad is hiding.”

“I’ll tell you nothing!” the prisoner snarled, recovering.

“If you do, I’ll ensure the survival of your clan,” Jango offered. “Clan Wren is powerful, but it will not survive a total collapse of House Vizla and Death Watch.”

“Death Watch will win!” the prisoner snarled. “Clan Wren will flourish once you are dead! I will not become a traitor, and you will never win.”

“We will see about that,” Jango sneered. “Is that your answer, then?”

“Yes,” the prisoner answered. “I will die before I give anything up.”

Jango stood there thoughtfully for a few moments.

“Very well,” he said calmly. He brought his wrist up to his mouth and spoke into it. “Did he wipe his navcomp?” Jango asked. The prisoner’s eyes widened slightly.

“No, ‘alor,” came a reply from Jango’s wrist. Zuko guessed that it was some of the Mandalorians’ strange technology that was allowing him to communicate through his wrist. “We’re making good progress on decoding it.”

“Excellent,” Jango smiled, and pulled out his blaster. The prisoner flinched, and Jango shot him in the head.

Zuko hadn’t see, before, what a blaster bolt did to flesh. He found it to be quite horrifying. The prisoner was quite obviously dead.

The prisoner’s guards dragged the corpse away as Jango holstered his blaster and turned to Zuko.

“I’m sorry you saw that, Zuk’ika,” Jango said calmly. “I had hoped he would be more reasonable.”

“I am fine,” Zuko assured him.

“Good,” Jango sighed. “Now, let’s get dinner. I’m starving.”

In the days after the army had gathered on the lands of Clan Carid, Jango was often away, leading his army to destroy Kyr’tsad bases. While Jango was gone, Zuko trained in Mandalorian fighting techniques with those who were still too young to go to war. Zuko learned that while the age that a Mandalorian could technically go to war was 14, Jango was holding everyone under 18 in reserve, to guard the base while older Mandalorians fought Kyr’tsad.

When Jango was around, he always made time for Zuko, and helped him figure out how to use fire bending while wearing armor, and with Mandalorian fighting forms. Those forms weren’t proper firebending forms, but they did work for firebending, while also incorporating movements and physical hits that Zuko knew would mess up, or at least confuse, many firebenders.

Slowly, Zuko learned the culture and languages of the Mando’ade. And though he did not admit it, he grew to love the Mando’ade.

They were his people, now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Baltan Carid is a real person in Legends. He was the leader of Clan Carid when they helped the Mand’alor Boba Fett.
> 
> Kyr’tsad – Death Watch
> 
> Dar’manda – no longer Mandalorian. It might be the worst insult possible to any Mandalorian.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed reading this, please leave kudos and, more importantly, comments! Constructive criticism is welcome and feeds the dragons.


End file.
